1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the addition of percussion to a stringed musical instrument, and more particularly, to the use of percussion additions placed in select off-set sound holes of a stringed musical instrument, such as a guitar, for the purpose of adding percussion.
2. Description of the Related Art
A growing trend of guitarists is to slap the strings (slap bass) or the body of the guitar to add percussion to their music, such as during performances. However, this slapping does not adequately simulate the sound of a true percussion instrument. To create a more realistic percussion sound, some musicians place various pick-ups in the body of the guitar. For example, some musicians modify ADAMAS(copyright) Smooth Top guitars manufactured by Kaman Corporation of Bloomfield, Conn. to receive Seymour Duncan(copyright) contact pick-ups manufactured by Carter Duncan Corporation doing business as the Seymour Duncan Pickups Corporation, both of Santa Barbara, Calif., so that percussion music created by tapping the body of the guitar is better heard during performances.
While the benefit of adding percussion sounds to guitars or other stringed musical instruments has been known for many years, the prior art does not disclose an apparatus that is easily adapted to modern guitars, is useful for the manual creation of music, and allows improvisational music.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 398,176 introduces percussion sounds to a banjo by affixing spring arms to a bracket that in turn is affixed to the banjo frame. Further, this patent discloses that weights or beaters are beat against the spring arms to create the drum-like sound.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,033,826 discloses a stringed instrument with the addition of percussion. The unique stringed instrument is a pitchfork with piano wire running along the shaft. Attached to the foot of the shaft is a percussion addition in the form of a large hollow can with a foot-operated drum pedal.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,375,747 discloses a rhythm beating attachment for guitars. This attachment contains a plurality of parallel ridges that may be strummed to create a rhythmical monotone beat or an accented beat at the end of each downstroke of the guitar strings.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,680,423 discloses a combination drum and guitar musical instrument. This instrument includes a guitar body with an elongated foot piece extending to floor. Attached to the foot piece is a drum with a foot-operated drum pedal.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,743,751 discloses a guitar with an electronic drum sound effects unit affixed to the guitar.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,900,573 discloses a percussion addition to a guitar. The percussion addition includes a foot-operated mechanical actuation device that is triggered by a mechanical or electrical pulse.
The above-referenced prior art documents are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
A drawback of these inventions is that they are not easily adapted to modern guitars. Further, many of these percussion additions are not operated by improvisational tapping on the surface of the guitar and do not create a realistic drum effect.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a percussion addition that is easily adapted to solid or hollow bodied stringed musical instruments, such as a guitar.
Another object is to provide a percussion addition to manually create a percussion sound, preferably a drum sound, with a stringed musical instrument.
One embodiment of the present invention is a percussion addition comprised of a percussion addition for a stringed instrument comprised of a hollow disc with a face or drumhead, wherein said disc has a hollow support such that said hollow disc and said hollow support form a continuous hollow space and wherein said support is adapted for connection to an off-set sound hole in a stringed instrument. For the purpose of this application, off-set sound holes include traditional off-set sound holes, such as those on an OVATION(copyright) Celebrity Deluxe guitar manufactured by Kaman Corporation of Bloomfield, Conn., as well as F-sound holes, such as those on a HAMER(copyright) 25th Anniversary guitar also manufactured by Kaman Corporation. The term xe2x80x9coff-set sound holesxe2x80x9d means any sound hole except the center hole (i.e., those holes in the instrument over which strings pass). These off-set sound holes may be originally manufactured in the instrument or may be specifically added to the instrument for the purpose of receiving the percussion addition. In addition, the off-set sound hole may be positioned anywhere on the body of the instrument; it is not necessary that the off-set sound hole be placed on the soundboard of the instrument body.
Preferably, the percussion addition is placed in an existing sound hole in the guitar and most preferably it is placed in an existing off-set hole. Preferably, the stringed musical instrument is a hollow bodied instrument, such as a guitar, and most preferably it is an ADAMAS(copyright) guitar with multiple off-set sound holes and a carbon fiber soundboard, such as an ADAMAS(copyright) Smooth Top.
A second embodiment of the present invention is a percussion addition kit comprised of more than one percussion addition, wherein each percussion addition has a different percussion sound so that a musician can interchange percussion additions on a stringed instrument to create a variety of percussion additions and wherein said percussion additions are comprised of a hollow disc with a face or drumhead, wherein said disc has a hollow support such that said hollow disc and said hollow support form a continuous hollow space and wherein said support is adapted for connection to selected off-set sound holes in a stringed musical instrument. The kit may optionally include one or more amplification devices, such as microphones or contact pick-up. Each percussion addition is different so as to create different percussion sound so that the musician may create a variety of percussion sounds during performances.
A third embodiment is a percussion addition kit comprised of more than one percussion addition, wherein each percussion addition has a different percussion sound so that a musician can interchange percussion additions on a stringed instrument to create a variety of percussion additions and wherein said percussion additions are comprised of a hollow disc with a face, wherein said disc has a hollow support such that said hollow disc and said hollow support form a continuous hollow space and wherein said hollow disc is removable from said hollow support, and wherein said kit further includes one or more different discs interchangeable with said removable disc. Again, the percussion additions, more specifically the hollow discs, are different to allow the musician to create a variety of percussion sounds. The hollow discs are removable from the hollow support to allow the musician to interchange the disc during performances and create a variety of percussion sounds. These kits may optionally include one or more amplification devices.
A fourth embodiment is a combination stringed and percussion instrument comprised of a stringed instrument with one or more off-set sound holes and one or more percussion additions of described above affixed to selected of said one or more off-set sound holes. Preferably, the instrument is a hollow bodied guitar with off-set sound holes. Optionally, the instrument may include one or more amplification devices positioned in said hollow discs.
The details of one or more embodiments of the invention are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.